Microsoft Messenger for Mac 8 beta released

Microsoft said on Wednesday that it has made a beta available of the latest Microsoft Messenger on the Mac platform. Dubbed, Messenger for Mac 8, the beta provides several updates from the previous version.

The latest beta, Build 08.00.00.100305 of Messenger for Mac 8 Beta introduces a audio/video feature for Windows Live users. The A/V support is cross-platform compatible and will work with Windows Live Messenger. Mac users will be able to share webcam and audio conversations with each other and their Windows counterparts.

Microsoft said in December 2009 that they would make a beta available in March and true to their word they have successfully done so. The team first demonstrated the A/V support at MacWorld 2009. A planned beta, promised for 2009, never arrived due to some set backs implementing the A/V support. A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed "progress has been slower than expected due to the challenge of connecting to the most current A/V code running on the Windows Live servers."

The software is still in beta form and has several known issues such as emoticons not displaying correctly, some video/audio calls do not work on certain configurations and display pictures do not display in the conversation window. Microsoft has not confirmed when a final version will be available.

Download: Messenger for Mac Beta